Starter for explosion-motors.



' No. 874,913. PATENTEDDEG.24,1907.

* H. J. S. LEWIS. STARTER FOR EXPLOSION- MOTORS.

APPLICATION FILED HA3. 4, 1907.

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away/ 0'0 PATENTED DEC. 24, 1907.

H. J. S. LEWIS.

STARTER FOR EXPLOSION MOTORS.

APPLICATION FILED MAB. 4, 190"!- 2 SEEETSSHEET 2.

HERMAN r. s. LEWIS, or

NEW Yohx, N. Y., ASSIGNOR or ONE-HALF TO JOHN H.

DALE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y,

STARTER FOR EXPLOSION-MOTORS.

To all whom it may concern:,.

Beit known that I, HERMAN J. S. Lnwrs,

a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Starters for Explosion-Motors, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My inventionrelates to'a form of spring motor, particularly adapted, for use in connection with explosion engines and motor vehicles, for the purpose of initially starting the engine from a state of rest.

In order to constitute a satisfactory starter for the engine of an automobile, or a similar installation, it is important that the application of the power be easily controlled whenever desired, and that this power be obtained in an easy way, as, for example, from the engine at a time when it isrunning freely. In order to accomplish these purposes by a spring motor it is evident that a special construction is required in which the power is stored and subsequentlyv delivered cm the rotary movement of the same shaft and in the same direction in both cases. In

other words, the sprin motor applied to the crank shaft of the engine for initially rotating the same, must becapable of afterward having itspower restored by thedchtinuing rotation of this shaftin the same direction."

Not only must these requisites be satisfied, but there is the further requirement that in normal running the said shaft must be 'entirelyfree and disconnected from the mechanism of the spr ng motor. In carrying out the present invention I accom lish these purposes, and Lhave provide a simple strong and compact mechanism which may be attached to the crank shaft of an explosion motor at any point, either in frontof a launch, or other relation.

' controlled by the'movement of a single part or lever, which may be extended to be operalole from a point at the seat of the driver. I consider this control by a single lever or part as a very important feature of the invention.

" In the drawings: Figure is a side eleva- Specifleatiorr of Letters Patent. Ap lication filed m l 4,1907. smart. 360.346.

rounds the sleeve 8.

Patented Dec. 24,1907.

tion showing a spring motor embodying the principles of my invention; Fig. 2 1s a longi'tudinal sectional view of the same; Fig. -3 1s a sectional view on the line IIIIII of Fig. 2,. looking in the"direction.ofthe arrows; Fig. 4 is a view of ,the interior of the casing, looking toward the left in Fig. 2," Fig. 5 is a view of the inside of the cover or plate pn view of the.casing with both end plates or covers removed; Figs. 7 and 8 are respectively side and sectional views of one of the cams, together with its operating lever; Fig. 9 is a detail perspective view showing a pawl or detent usedin the construction.

Referring to the drawings in which like parts are designated by the same reference sign, 1 denotes the casing which is generally cylindrical in form, having a central peripheral wall 2, and end plates or covers 3 and 4, secured in any suitable way. Axially through this casing there is passed a shaft 5, which is freely revoluble'in the journal bearings 6 and 7 of the casing. On this shaft 5 there is keyed or splineda sleeve 8, so as to be capable of slight longitudinal movement on the shaft.

. 9 denotes a; plate with a slightly. coned .the right-hand side of the casing; Fi '6 is grooves 12, of the sleeve. The coned disks,

9 and 10 constitute clutch disks in co1nbi. nation with certain other parts of a spring drum, .as will later appear. a

' I provide means loosely revoluble around the shaft 5 for supporting a spiral spring.-

For this purpose there isshown a disk 13, having .a central hub 14, which loosely surrounds the sleeve 8.

15 denotes the spiral spring which is heavily made of spring steel so as to have the requisite power, and the inner end of this spring is fixed to the hub 14 of the disk 13.

16 denotes a second cup-shaped part or disk, having a hub 17, which also loosely sur- The part 16 has a peripheral flange 18, to which the outerend-of thespring 15 is fixed. In this way the disks or parts 13 and 16 are spring tensioned to take apredeterminedangular relation with one another, and are strongly impelled to re-.,

' taneously.

- of the levers 25 and 26 are deflected or bent turn to such relation whenever displaced from it. They'are both capable, however, of freely revolving about the shaft 5, unless held thereto in a special way. These characteristics are the important ones in connection with the main spring and its su porting parts, and it is evident that-the etails of construction by which they are obtained may be modified. In the drawing the spring 15 is fixed to the hub 14 by the expedient of' having an intermediate collar or ring .19, which is keyed at 20, to the disk 13 so as to be removable therefrom. This construction is merely a convenient one in practice'and enablesthe arts to be readily taken apart and reassem led. There is fixed to each of the disks or parts 13 and 16, a means cooperatingwith the clutch disks 9 and 10, by which said parts are selectively engaged thereto. This is conveniently secured by internally coned rims 21 and 22, for the respective parts 13 and 16. These internally coned rims surround the clutch disks 9 and 10, asclearly shown in Fig. 2. These rims also serve an .additional function as thrust bearings to keepthe main spring in its proper central relation in the casing. The casing has internally projecting lugs 23 and 24, which abut against the rims 21 and 22, so as to limit the endwise movement. The clutch disks 9 and 10 are, therefore, engaged upon the parts 13 and 16 respectively when said clutch disks are moved in the proper longitudinal direction on their supporting shaft. I I provide means controlled by a single lever or part for engaging either of the clutch disks 9 and 10 in this way, or disengaging them both simul- There are a pair of arms 25 and 26 loose on extensions of. the sleeve 8, and these arms have central hubs or pieces 25 and 26, which abut against the clutch disks 9 and 10 respectively." The'outer faces of the hubs 25 and 26 have cam inclines 25" and 26, The journals 6 and 7 have corresponding cam inclines 27, 28 (see Figs. 4 and 5 respectively). The relation of the cam in clines is such that when the levers 25 and 26 are moved, one or another of the clutch disks is engaged with theparts 13 and 16, depending on the direction of movement of said levers. When the levers are'in the central position shown, both of the clutch disks are disengaged from the parts 13, 16. In order that the levers 25 and 26 may project past the rims 23 and 24, the latter are interrupted for a portion of their circumference, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The'outer ends toward one another, and notched at 29 1d- 30 respectively. 31 denotes a block enter ing both such notches, and which is attached to a handle 32 circumferentially movable on the casing 1 by reason of a slot 33 therein. When the handle 32 is swung back and forth, the levers 25 and 26 are correspondingly moved and one or another of the clutch dlsks 9 and 10 is canimed inward, depending on the direction of movement of said andle 32. The disks'or parts 13 and 16 have ratchet teeth 34 and 35, on their outer edges, which point in opposite directions. The direction of the teeth 34 is clearly shown in Fig. 3; the direction of the teeth 35 is opposite thereto, and shown at the lower-part of this figure. The cover or plate 3 of the casing has a pawl 36, pivoted thereto at the point 37. 38 denotes a tail or extension of this pawl by which it is moved out of engagement with the ratchet teeth 34 against the tension of a spring 39. The-tail or extension 38 of the pawl is'in the path of movement of the lever 25, so that the pawl is thrown out of engagement with the ratchet teeth at the limit of movement of such lever. The other ratchet ,yvheel 35 is constantly engaged by a spring or pawl 40, so as to prevent any return movement thereof under all circumstances and conditions.

. It has been stated that the pawl 38 is disengaged at the limit of movement of the lever 25, which has the function at the same time of camming the clutch disk 9 into its engaging; relation. In order that the two functions maybe properly attained without interfering with one another, it is best in practice to havethexcam inclines 25 slightly flattened at their highest points, as

shown at 41, and the cam inclines 27 of the journal 6 similarly flattened at 42. In this way the lever is free to move'to its extreme position after the clutch disk has been fully tightened. An additional feature of the invention lies in having the journals 6 and 7 adjustable inwardly with respect to the end plates or covers of the casing by means of the screws 43. In this way the'parts maybe initially positioned to 'ive the best results and adjustment thereafter made'from time to time as required to compensate for wear.

The operation is as follows: I will imagine the spring motor to be placed on the crank shaft 5 of an engine. The engine being initially started the first instance in any suitable Way, the spring motor is tensioned by moving the handle 32 in the direction of the arrow 44 in Fig. 3. The efiect of moving the handle 32 in this way is to tighten the clutch disk 10 upon the internally coned rim 22, and when this engagement is made the disk or part 16 revolves with the shaft 5'.

' down, or the-clutch to slip, thehandle 32 is moved backto its central position/disengaging clutchd'is'k 10 and again allowing the crank shaft to revolveireely'. The power stored up is, however, retained because the paw140 engages the-teeth 35 of the disk or part '16, and prevents retrograde move-.

S on a later occasion it becomes necessary to .again start the engine, .the' handle .32 is I tions necessaryto start it.

moved "toward the, left-Orin the direction of, the arrow 45, in Fig. =3, so thatthe clutch disk'9 is engaged with'the internally coned rim 21. By the" time the handle '32 has reached the limit of its movement, the clutch parts are very tightly engaged' so that when the lever, strikesthe' tail 38 of the aWl 36 to release the same, the power 0 the main spring is transmitted through the'disk 9'to the shaft 5. Since the disk 13 in its un- Winding movement naturally tends to follow the direction of the disk 16 in the Winding movement, it is evident thatthe shaft 5 will be propelled in the same direction as itran f when the power was being stored up. The

engine is therefore given. the few initial rota- A very important feature of the invention lies in the factv that my starting mechanism does notrequire-immediate and skilled attention to disconnect it from the crank shaft after it has given the few initial rotations required. Explosion engines start very sud denly, and the operator is occupied With'the throttle and spark levers so that he, would not have much opportunity to give any .at-

tention to the spring motor. But although the handle 32 is not returned immediately to its central position, there is no harm done,

because after the energy of. the spring is eX- p'ended, all the parts, including the clutch disks, the spring and the parts 13 and 16, 'rotatetogether within the casing as long as de stred, such motion in such forward direction not being resisted by thevpe'r'manently engaged pawl 4:0. The operator ofthe ma chine can move the handle 32fto its central position or totherewindingr position at any time at his convenience. he 'rewinding is preferably done when the load of the ma-v chineis taken ofl the engine. Itis evident 'that'in going down hill,'the greatest power.

I is available, a'sthe weight and momentum of 3 the car may be us'edto assist the engine in obta ning the requisitep'owerfor a very -st1ifma1n spring.

in the mannerin which the disengagement of I ,thGSQ clutch disks should neverbe engaged- A still further feature of tlie i'nvention lies the clutch disks 9 and 10. is insured. Since at-the same time, I make the slots 12 ,just

deep enough so that the lugs 11 will shoulder disk 9 is pushed to anextreme disengaged position wheneverathe clutch disk 10 is en-.

'gage'd. In thisjway their action with the spring motor mechanism is made positive so that accidental binding or undue flricti'on at any time will not destroy its efiectiveness.

What I claim is:' 1. A spring operated starter for explosion engines comprising two parts or members independently 'revoluble on the crank shaft of the-engine, :a power spring impelling said i members angularly with respect to one an] other, and a lever pivoted coaxially with said members and movable in one direction to en'- gage one member to the shaft and movable in the other direction to engage the other membertojsaid shaft, said directions being in the lane of rotation of said shaft, andi means 'or holding the non-engagedmember stationary in eachcase. Y

2. A-spring operated'starter for explosion engines comprising, two parts-or members. in epejndently revoluble on the shaft to be actuated, a power spring impellingsaid m'embers angularly with respect to one another, friction clutches for engaging either mem-- her with said shaft, means for holding the I non-engaged member stationary, and means including cams angularlymovableeoaxially of said members forengagingyeithenof said clutches.selectively v 3. A spring opertrtedstarterfor ex losion engines comprisln two partsormem ers'independently. revo uble on the 'shaft to 'be' actuated, a power s ring impelling said mem .bers, angularly wit respect to one another,

clutches for. engagin either of s'aidmembers to'the shaft, an a single part-movable in the plane of rotation of'the member'sforf enga 'ing either oneof said clutches and simu taneously disengaging. the other clutch.

4. A springoperated starter-for. explosion engines comprism two parts or members in' dependently revo uble on the shaft to be actuated, a power spring impelling said members angularly with-respect to one another, clutches for engaging either member to said shaftga pair of leve sab' 'itting against said 129 clutches,. said levers avingcam inclines and stationary cam inclines cooperating therewith-whereby the clutches are engaged when 'saidllevers are moved. t 5; A spring operated starter for explosion engines comprisln two parts or members independently revo uble on the shaft to be actuated,a powerspring impelling said'memt ber s engularly with respect to (511 another, In witness whereof, I subscribe my'signai, clutches forengaging either mem er to said *ture, in the presence of two witnesses.

shaft a pair of levers abutting against said I v c1utci1es,said levers having cam inclines HERMAN LEWIS Sand adjustable stationai'y cam'in'cli'nes co- Witnesses:

' fopei sting therewith whereby the clutches WALDO M. CHAPIN',

' are engaged-when said levers are moved. WALTER CALLAHAN. 

